Individuals exercising on a regular basis in order to keep physically fit is an increasing trend. Studies on physical fitness have shown that weight training coupled with a cardiovascular exercise give an individual the best opportunity to achieve the desired physically fit body. The weight training should involve both pushing movements and pulling movements with sufficient resting time in between movements. Cardiovascular or aerobic exercises help to condition and strengthen muscles while stimulating the capillaries in the muscles helping oxygen and nutrients to be more easily delivered to the muscles. A consistent program of cardiovascular exercise also enhances blood circulation enabling strained muscles to heal more quickly. The amount of cardiovascular exercise required to see results ranges from 20 to 45 minutes a day, four to five days a week. Often an individual's fitness goals are cut short by time constraints. An individual's busy schedule often makes it difficult to find the proper amount of time to devote to a balanced combination of weight training and cardiovascular exercise.
The prior art is replete with exercise equipment suitable for weight training and additional equipment suitable for cardiovascular exercise. The weight training equipment has many forms from simple benches and free weights to complicated universal weight machines to resistance machines taking advantage of the elastic nature of different sizes of bars or bows. Because of the required additional weights or bars needs to perform the exercise, the weight training machines known in the art can be bulky, difficult to transport, and take up a lot of precious floor space whether in a commercial gym or at home.
The equipment available for cardiovascular exercise is also numerous including stationary bicycles, treadmills, elliptical machines, and stair stepping machines. None of the prior art suitable for cardiovascular or aerobic exercise includes a weight training feature for the upper body. Using the equipment known in the art, any movement by the upper body is driven by the momentum created from and is mechanically linked to the pedaling, running, or stepping movement of the lower body.
Therefore a need exists for exercise equipment that saves time, maximizes an individual's fitness routine, and minimizes the floor space required while combining a cardiovascular exercise simultaneously with a true weight training exercise using the individual's own body weight for resistance.